College picks, Week 1: Let’s start with Cal, North Carolina and Bobby Petrino, all as underdogs

It begins again. If you know this blog, you know I love college football, even though it doesn’t do much traffic here.

So here we go again, always trying to find good home underdogs, bad lines on Big 10 games and smart schools with good, upstanding coaches.

(Stanford, Duke and Vanderbilt just about carried me last year, though I admit I’ll jump on the non-great schools and ethically-iffy coaches if it suits me, see: Bobby Petrino.)

FYI: Last year was nice–I went31-18-2 against the spread; Purdy went 6-11 vs. the spread. I’ll probably be worse this year. It starts like this…

—- KAWAKAMI (0-0, went 1-2 in Week 1 last year)/

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* NORTH CAROLINA +12.5, over South Carolina tonight: Scary pick, but under Larry Fedora, North Carolina scores points, win or lose, always and constantly. Plus, I think there might be some Vegas over-hype on the Clowney angle–great, GREAT player, but is he worth the 3 or 4 “SportsCenter” highlight points added to this line?

OK, sure, South Carolina probably wins this at home. My guess, though, is that it will be relatively close, something like 30-21. Spurrier & Clowney could nail me on this one, I realize, but double-digits is too many points.

* CAL +6, over Northwestern: Can’t go with my alma mater on Saturday even though I really do want to and will be pulling for an easy Purple victory, above and beyond these silly picks.

It’s a rule, though, and I have taken advantage of it plenty over the years on this blog: Pick against NU when the ‘Cats are giving points on the road.

Add in the length of this journey, and the late-night start, and Sonny Dykes’ first game at Cal… I think Cal will give a very good performance, even with a true freshman QB in Jared Goff, and I think this will be a tough, fourth-quarter game.

Something like 31-27 Northwestern, but I could see the score flipped, too. So just gimme the points and I’ll be quiet now.

* WESTERN KENTUCKY +4.5, over Kentucky: Bobby Petrino in his WKU debut, auditioning for the next big job, at home, getting points against the big rival. Yeah, I can’t resist that one, though I don’t do it proudly.

—-PURDY (0-0, went 1-0 in Week 1 last year)/

* LSU -4.5 over TCU. Purdy comment: Might be the best game played at Cowboys’ stadium all year. But the SEC still rules…

Hey TK, what about a season prediction?
Stanford repeats as PAC-12 champs and plays ‘Bama for the National championship.
Cal goes 5-7. Some real tough games. 3 games vs teams in the Top 5.

MK

Tim, I need to see some serious San Jose State picks this year — the Spartans have earned it after a No. 21 AP finish last year. Sac State — yeah, we’ll give you a pass this week. But come on — you’re a San Jose paper. Let’s give the boys some attention this year.